There's a lot of great music coming to the Quad Cities over the next couple of weeks. And I'm going to miss them all with business obligations.
Actually, I've known that these performers would be in the area for a long time. I had my schedule sort of blocked out to make sure that I'd be around. But some unforeseen circumstances came up that I just couldn't get out of or reschedule.
The first show is tonight - Little Charlie and the Nightcats are playing at the Isle of Capri in Bettendorf at a show sponsored by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. Little Charlie and the Nightcats are based out of the San Francisco area and have been around for a number of years. They're led by a great guitarist, Charlie Baty; and is fronted by showman extraordinaire and harmonica player/singer Rick Estrin.
Estrin has a stage presence that is usually bigger than the stage the bands usually play on. I've seen the band in small venues and at large festivals. It doesn't matter the size of the crowd, Estrin always puts on a great show.
But I'll miss them tonight. I understand they're coming back for the annual Mississippi Valley Blues Fest in July, but it would have been neat to see them in a club like venue tonight.
Tomorrow night, the Redstone Room at The River Music Experience is hosting the return to the area of Junior Brown. I worked with Junior Brown at the River Roots Live festival a couple years ago and he put on a great show. He came back to play the Redstone Room last year and that was a great show. Coupled with the excellent sound system at the Redstone Room, Junior Brown is going to be tough to miss tomorrow night.
But the big show I'm missing will be Eric Clapton at The Mark of the Quad Cities next Tuesday. I'll be traveling with Dominic Baker, one of the big honchos with my speaker company, Focal. His schedule in coming to the states just so happened to coincide with Clapton coming to the Quad Cities next week. Even though I bought the tickets back in January, my boss couldn't work Dominic's travel schedule around the Clapton concert date. Or as he said, "Shit happens." (Actually, he wasn't that cold about it. He thoroughly apologized that he couldn't make the schedule work any other way.)
So, I have a couple tickets to the Clapton concert, but I can't go. Cindy is going to take her sister, who I'm not too certain she's all that familiar with some of Clapton's work. Then again, I'm not certain if Cindy knows much of Clapton's work over the years, either.
Opening for Clapton will be the great blues guitarist Robert Cray. I used to see Robert Cray back in the early 80's when he'd play from time to time at Gabe's Oasis in Iowa City. I like to tell people that I used to dance to Cray's music on a dance floor not more than four or five feet from where he stood. I've seen Cray numerous times including the times in Iowa City and at other venues and concert sites. The Clapton/Cray show will be a great one.
But I've got to miss it. Oh well...
One show that I did catch a little bit of recently was Reverend Raven and the Chain Smoking Altar Boys at the Creekside Bar and Grill here in Davenport (see map). The Creekside is owned by my buddy, Randy Adams, and he was able to get Reverend Raven for a great price as they had played at Blues on Grand in Des Moines on Friday night and were looking for a Saturday night gig on their way back to Milwaukee.
I've caught Reverend Raven two or three times over the years at Summerfest in Milwaukee. The band consists of Reverend Raven - a southside Chicago native who has lived in Milwaukee for a number of years - on guitar and vocals. They have a great harmonica player who goes by the stage name of Madison Slim. The bass player, P.T. Pedersen, has played with the likes of Charlie Musselwhite, Pinetop Perkins and the late Sunnyland Slim; and Spencer Panosh rounds out the band on drums.
The band plays primarily traditional swinging and rocking Chicago Blues. The music is upbeat and infectious. They always put on a good show and last Saturday night at the Creekside was absolutely no exception.
So, there's a lot of great music coming to town that I won't get to see. As Eric Clapton is getting up there in years, this may be the last time I have a chance to see him. Yeah, I'm bummed, but what are you going to do?
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